Back spring assembly



Unite Sttes Walter V. Slominski Lexington, Ky.

Sept. 3, 1968 Dec. 29, 1970 Hoover Ball and Bearing Company Saline,Mich.

a corporation of Michigan Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented AssigneeBACK SPRING ASSEMBLY 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 267/107 Int. Cl ..A47c 23/16, A47c 25/02 Field ofSearch 267/ l07, 109,1l2;267/l02-ll2 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,639,763 5/1953 Neely 267/144 2,834,594 5/1958 Pietruszka... 267/1442,856,987 10/1958 Lelli 267/107X FOREIGN PATENTS 878,025 9/1961 GreatBritain 267/107 Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Attorney-Olsen andStephenson ABSTRACT: A spring assembly for a seat back structure inwhich an elongated wire element is ofa form and has segments clippedtogether so as to provide a low profile back support with the sameresilient feel as a high profile back support.

PATENIEU UECZQ mm 7 sum 1 (IF 2 "INVENTO R WALTER V. SLOMINSKI ATTORNEYSPATENTE D DEB 2 9 I878 sum 2 OF 2 R O T N E V N WALTER v. SLOMHNSKI BYVa/M ATTORNEYS BACK SIRING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to spring wire assemblies particularly adaptedfor use in seat back structures.

It is known in the art of manufacturing furniture to provide a seat backstructure in which a wire spring has been formed to provide a restingportion supported at the upper end by a V shaped supporting portion, asis shown, by way of example, in US Pat. No. 2,480,667, granted Aug. 30,1949 to Neely. Spring constructions of this type have proved to be verysuccessful when used in furniture having a high profile, that is, aprofile with a substantial depth to the back structure in the upperregions. However, the current styling requirements for furniturefrequently call for back structures having a low profile, that is, onein which the upper regions of the back structures have a relativelysmall depth compared with the lower regions of the back structure. Insuch instances, the known prior art spring structures have proved to beunsatisfactory for meeting the styling requirements and at the same timefor providing the same resilient, comfortable feel that has beenrealized when using furniture having a high profile back structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has overcome certainshortcomings of the prior art in that it has provided a spring assemblyfor a seat back structure which is constructed and arranged so that lowprofile styling requirements can be met while at the same time providingthe resilient properties that are desired.

In one form of the present invention, a wire spring assembly is providedfor use with a seat structure having a back frame with top and bottomrails, said spring assembly comprising an elongated sinuous wiredefining loops with torsion bars and connecting bars and providing acontinuous resting portion connected at the upper end to the toprail andextending to a location adjacent to said bottom rail and providinganintegral supporting portion of inverted V-shape configuration with theend of one leg of the supporting portion being integral with the lowerend of the resting portion and the end ofv the other leg being connectedto the bottom of the other rail, and a clip is provided connecting aloop of said one leg to a loop of the resting portion. In another formofthe invention, a clip is provided connecting a loop of said one leg tota loop of the other leg.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, reference being hadto the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

FIG. I is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a chaircontaining a spring assembly embodying one form of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the springassembly utilized in the chair of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section,containing a springassembly embodying a second form of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the springassembly utilized in the chair of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS.

Referring now to the drawings, the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 will next be described. The armchair 10 hasconventional seat structure 12, arms 13 (only one being shown) and legs14. The back structure I6, which has low profile styling, includes aframe having a top rail 18 and a bottom rail 20. A spring assembly 22 isconnected at the upper end to the top rail 18 and at the lower end tothe bottom rail 20, and it provides a resilient back support under theconventional chair cover 23.

The wire spring assembly 22 includes the wire 24 which has been formedto define a plurality of loops 26 with torsion bars 28 joined by aplurality of connecting bars 30. The wire 24 is folded to provide acontinuous resting portion 32 which extends from the lowermost torsionbar 280 to the point of connection, by the attachment means 34, to thetop rail 18. The wire 24 also provides an inverted V-shape supportingportion 36 which has one leg or connecting portion 38 integrallyconnected to the lower end of the resting portion 32 and another leg ormounting portion 40 integrally connected to the bottom rail 20 by theattachment means 42. As best seen in FIG. 2, the resting portion 32which is considerably longer than the portions 38 and 40 has beenstretched in the forming operation so that the midportion of portion 32has loops which are elongated to provide greater stiffness in thisregion.

The resting portion 32 and the supporting portion 26 are connectedtogether by a clip 44 which functions to connect a torsion bar 28 of aloop 26 in the one leg 38 to a torsion bar in an adjacent loop in theresting portion 32. It is found that a hard spot in the back of thechair can be eliminated if the clip 44 is connected to a loop in saidone leg 38 remote from the uppermost torsion bar of said leg 38. When soconnected it is found that a seat back structure is provided which hasthe desired styling profile, which provides the proper and desiredstiffness for supporting the small-of-the-back of the individual usingthe seat, and which also provides the same resilient feel that isavailable in seat back structures having higher profiles. Thesedesirable results are provided without introducing hard spots in theseat back structures because of the unique spring formation and clippingarrangement provided. 7

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 will alsoprovide the same desirable results that are set forth above. Thisembodiment is quite similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2,differing only in the spring assembly 50, and specifically in thedifferent'location of the clip 52. As here shown, the inverted V-shapesupporting portion 54 has its one leg 56 connected to its other leg 58by the clip 52. This is accomplished by connecting two of the torsionbars 60 of these legs together, and as in the previously describedembodiment, a torsion bar 60 of the one leg 56 is selected forattachment purposes which is between the ends of the leg, and in thislastdescribed embodiment, hard spots in the back structure are alsoabsent. I

As shown in FIG. 3, when the chair 62 is in use and an individual isresting against the back, the spring assembly 50 will assume theposition shown at 64 in broken lines. The configuration of the restingportion 66, when in use, illustrates the smooth contours that areprovided, and the same general contours will be provided when theembodiment illustrated in FIGS; 1 and 2 Mn use.

Iclaim:

1. In a seat structure having a back frame with top and bottomjrails, awire spring assembly extending between said rails comprising anelongated sinuous wire definingloops with torsion bars and connectingbars, said wire providing a continuous resting portion connected at theupper end to said top rail and extending to a location adjacent to saidbottom rail and an integral supporting portion of inverted V-shapeconfiguration positioned entirely rearwardlyof said resting portion, theend of one leg of the supporting portion being integral with the lowerend of the resting portion and the end of the other leg being connectedto said bottom rail, said one leg constituting a a mounting portion ofsaid wire, and a clip connecting a loop intermediate the ends of saidconnecting portion to one of the loops in one of said other wireportions.

2. In a seating structure, a wire spring assembly according to claim 1,wherein said clip connects the torsion bar of a loop of said connectingportion to a torsion bar of a loop of said resting portion.

3. In a seating structure, a wire spring assembly according to claim 1,wherein said clip connects the torsion bar of a loop of said mountingportion.

4. A seat spring comprising an elongated wire spring member havingtransversely extending spaced torsion bars and connecting bars extendingtherebetween, said spring member being shaped to form a resting portionof predetermined length, a mounting portion of a length less than saidresting portion and spaced therefrom. and a connecting portion also of alength less than said resting portion formed integral with and extendingbetween one end of said resting portion and one end of said mountingportion so as to form a generally Vconfiguration with said mountingportion. and clip means connecting a torsion bar intermediate the endsof said connecting portion with a torsion bar in one of said otherspring portions.

5. A seat spring according to claim 4 wherein said last-mentionedtorsion bar is located in said resting portion.

6 A seat spring according to claim 4 wherein said last-mentioned torsionbar is located in said mounting portion intermediate the ends thereof.

mg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent NO. 3,Dated December 29,

InventorIs) Walter V. Slominski It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Claim 3, line 3, after said" insert connecting portion to a torsion barof a loop of said Signed and sealed this 20th day of April 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents

